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us department of agriculture
'Enough Is Enough': US Factory Farm Takeover Continues With 1.7 Billion Animals
"The USDA's new data show that without policy changes, factory farms will continue to get bigger and bigger, wreaking havoc on public health, the environment, and the climate," said one expert.
Feb 13, 2024
Critics of factory farming renewed demands for U.S. policy reforms on Tuesday in response to new federal data on the nation's agricultural activity, which is released every five years.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) put out its report about the 1.9 million farms and ranches that collectively spanned more than 880 million acres as of 2022—a loss of nearly 142,000 operations and over 20 million acres since 2017. The document features state tallies and other details including inventory and values for crops and livestock.
"The USDA's new data show that without policy changes, factory farms will continue to get bigger and bigger, wreaking havoc on public health, the environment, and the climate," warned Environmental Working Group (EWG) Midwest director Anne Schechinger.
Schechinger highlighted some of the key data points for EWG's website:
For cattle and broiler chicken farms, the number of the largest factory farms has grown since 2012. In 2012, there were 1,124 cattle farms in the U.S. with 5,000 cattle or more per farm. But that increased to 1,270 mega factory farms in 2017 and 1,453 in 2022, according to the USDA's Census of Agriculture data—a 29% increase.
And the largest chicken farms increased by 17%, from 6,332 farms with 500,000 or more birds in 2012 to 7,211 farms in 2017 and 7,406 farms in 2022. The number of the biggest hog factory farms increased greatly, from 3,006 in 2012 to 3,600 in 2017 but went down slightly to 3,540 in 2022.
Across all three animal types—cattle, chickens, and hogs—the number of animals produced in the largest factory farms increased. There were 28% more cattle produced in the largest facilities in 2022 than in 2012, 24% more hogs, and 24% more chickens.
Food & Water Watch (FWW), which also analyzed the new government data, found that "there are currently 1.7 billion animals raised on U.S. factory farms every year; an increase of 6% since 2017, 47% more than roughly 20 years ago in 2002."
The group emphasized that "as factory farms take over, the number of small dairies raising animals outside the factory farm system plummeted, with barely one-third as many today compared to 20 years ago."
FWW research director Amanda Starbuck declared that "America today is truly a factory farming nation. Status quo legislating in Washington is enabling a corporate feeding frenzy in rural America."
"As industrial confinements drive family-scale farmers off their land, we are left with skyrocketing numbers of animals on factory farms producing enormous amounts of waste," she continued. "The benefits flow to private coffers while our communities and environment are left holding the bag."
The 24,000 U.S. factory farms produce 940 billion pounds of manure annually, according to Starbuck's group. That is "twice as much as the sewage produced by the entire U.S. population" and "52 billion pounds more than in 2017, equivalent to creating a new city of 39 million people (or nearly two New York City metro areas) in the past five years," FWW explained.
Animal waste from factory farms, or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), "often pollutes our water and air," noted EWG's Schechinger. "These environmental damages are also dangerous for public health, with toxins from animal manure sickening people and poisoning wildlife."
"The largest livestock operations are also bad for the climate," she added. "Cows release methane to the atmosphere through their burps, and cattle and hog manure releases methane and nitrous oxide, two greenhouse gases more powerful than carbon dioxide."
Starbuck argued that "enough is enough—Congress must pass the Farm System Reform Act to ban factory farming now."
That bill (S.271/H.R. 797) "would, among other things, strengthen the Packers & Stockyards Act to crack down on the monopolistic practices of meatpackers and corporate integrators, place a moratorium on large factory farms... and restore mandatory country-of-origin labeling requirements," according to its sponsors, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).
The pair reintroduced that legislation last February alongside the Industrial Agriculture Accountability Act, Protecting America's Meatpacking Workers Act, and Protect America's Children from Toxic Pesticides Act.
"I have been very proud to partner with Sen. Booker to try and reform our broken food system to maintain fair competition, high animal welfare standards, and level the playing field for family farmers, ranchers, and agricultural workers," Khanna said at the time. "These bills shine a light on the disturbing practices in our current system and can help usher in a new, safer, and more resilient system."
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Scientists, Groups to USDA: Stop Ignoring Climate Threat of Meat and Dairy
"Secretary Vilsack can't keep his head in the sand anymore, because this letter delivers the message loud and clear," said a Center for Biological Diversity campaigner.
Jan 11, 2024
More than 250 advocacy groups, scientists, and other experts on Thursday urged U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to "stop disregarding the science on the climate cost of meat and dairy in high-consuming countries like the United States, and advancing the industries that are driving agricultural emissions."
The coalition's letter—spearheaded by the Center for Biological Diversity—came after Vilsack attended the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) last month and was asked if he was hearing about cutting meat consumption as a climate solution.
According toPolitico, Vilsack responded that "I don't hear much about that," but "I did hear about the important role that strategies for methane reduction could play in making the current livestock industry more sustainable."
"We have to address our meat-heavy diets now, or the climate emergency will force us to."
The letter pushes back, highlighting that "in addition to numerous panels discussing this topic at COP28, the United States joined more than 150 nations in signing the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action."
"Furthermore, during the first-ever Food, Agriculture, and Water Day at COP, which you personally attended, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization launched a highly publicized roadmap to align food systems with the Paris agreement," the letter adds. "The FAO roadmap specifically identifies the inclusion of environmental considerations in national dietary guidelines as well as the importance of improving school food and public procurement programs as effective government actions."
Despite industry pressure, the meat and dairy sector's contributions to the climate emergency as well as the related crises of the accelerated spread of disease, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and water pollution were documented and acknowledged by scientists, campaigners, and governments long before COP28—which was flooded by lobbyists for not only fossil fuel giants but also Big Ag.
As the letter details:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change not only identified dietary shifts, including meat reduction, as a vital climate mitigation strategy needed to meet the urgent emissions-reduction targets but emphasized the urgency to act. Research has shown that even if the energy sector immediately became climate-neutral, we still would not be able to achieve the reductions necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change without reducing meat and dairy consumption.
Additionally, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework for the Conference on Biodiversity reaffirms the need to reduce animal protein under Target 16. Reducing animal protein is specifically named in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Global Species Action Plan to achieve the Kunming-Montreal goals. Studies show that climate and biodiversity action must be aligned and failing to do so impedes our ability to address either crisis and further threatens food security.
"The science shows sustainable dietary shifts are key in high-consuming nations like the United States. Changes to production alone are not enough," the letter asserts. "The United States must take a leading role in reducing food system emissions with strategies that address both production and consumption of animal-based foods."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture "has repeatedly been urged by scientists (including its own scientific advisory committees), environmental experts, and public health advocates over the past decade to address excessive meat and dairy consumption in food and nutrition policy," the coalition wrote to Vilsack. "Under your leadership, the USDA has instead relied on false solutions such as feed additives, which have minimal impact in reducing emissions and aren't scalable, and biogas, which worsens the problem of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions."
The groups have three key demands for the USDA chief:
- Immediately make meat and dairy reduction a key part of USDA's climate strategy by acknowledging the role of consumption in climate mitigation and identifying opportunities to support and incentivize dietary shifts;
- Align food and climate goals in all USDA programs and policies, including by increasing access to healthy, plant-based foods in the school meal program; and
- Integrate sustainability into the Dietary Guidelines for Americans with an emphasis on plant-forward dietary patterns.
"Secretary Vilsack can't keep his head in the sand anymore, because this letter delivers the message loud and clear," said Jennifer Molidor, a senior food campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. "We have to address our meat-heavy diets now, or the climate emergency will force us to."
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Biden Move on Old-Growth Forests Called 'Important Milestone'
One campaigner said it is "a meaningful step towards averting climate catastrophe, safeguarding vulnerable ecosystems, and fulfilling President Biden's commitment to preserve old-growth and mature trees."
Dec 19, 2023
Conservationists on Tuesday applauded the Biden administration's first-of-its-kind proposal to conserve and restore old-growth trees across national forests and grasslands with limits on logging, "so nature can continue to be a key climate solution."
The plan would protect the nation's most ancient forests from commercial logging on approximately 25 million acres of public lands, though it would allow some cutting of trees under stricter conditions than currently exist.
The United States is a top contributor to planet-heating pollution, largely from fossil fuels. White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory noted in a statement that "our forests absorb carbon dioxide equivalent to more than 10% of our nation's annual greenhouse gas emissions."
The proposal to amend all 128 forest land management plans in line with an executive order issued last year by President Joe Biden comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that "climate change is presenting new threats like historic droughts and catastrophic wildfire. This clear direction will help our old-growth forests thrive across our shared landscape."
Many campaigners agreed—including Earthjustice's Blaine Miller-McFeeley, who praised the proposal "an important milestone," and Ellen Montgomery of Environment America, who called it "unprecedented."
"Protecting our old-growth trees from logging is an important first step to ensure these giants continue to store vast amounts of carbon, but other older forests also need protection."
Sierra Club forests campaign manager Alex Craven stressed that "our ancient forests are some of the most powerful resources we have for taking on the climate crisis and preserving ecosystems."
"We are pleased to see that the Biden administration continues to embrace forest conservation as the critical opportunity that it is," he added. "This amendment is a meaningful step towards averting climate catastrophe, safeguarding vulnerable ecosystems, and fulfilling President Biden's commitment to preserve old-growth and mature trees across federal lands."
Oregon Wild's Lauren Anderson declared that "President Biden is taking a major step forward in protecting these national treasures."
While welcoming the administration's plan, conservationists also pushed for further action from the USDA's Forest Service—which, along with the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management, manages approximately 32 million acres of old-growth forests and 80 million acres of mature forests nationwide.
"Protecting our old-growth trees from logging is an important first step to ensure these giants continue to store vast amounts of carbon, but other older forests also need protection," explained Randi Spivak of the Center for Biological Diversity. "To fulfill President Biden's executive order and address the magnitude of the climate crisis, the Forest Service also needs to protect our mature forests, which if allowed to grow will become the old growth of tomorrow."
Standing Trees executive director Zack Porter pointed out that "more than 99.9% of old-growth forests in New England have already been cut down."
"For the climate and biodiversity, the Forest Service must put an end to destructive mature forest logging that prevents the recovery and expansion of old-growth forests across the U.S.," he said. "We are buoyed by today's announcement, and remain optimistic that the Forest Service will take further action to secure protections for America's future old-growth forests."
The Washington Post reported that "some environmental advocates also questioned whether the policy will last, as a future administration could easily undo it," considering that the changes "won't be finalized until the agency has completed an environmental impact statement, which it expects to finish in early 2025."
Campaigners have also long argued that protecting the carbon storage capacity of U.S. forests cannot be considered a real climate solution unless paired with other key actions. As Food & Water Watch's Thomas Meyer put it last year, "Protecting forests without addressing the root cause of the climate crisis, namely the continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels, will do very little to slow global warming."
The global phaseout of fossil fuels was a primary focus of the recent United Nations climate talks, which wrapped up in Dubai earlier this month with a deal that scientists decried as "a tragedy for the planet" because it failed to explicitly demand ending the era of oil, gas, and coal. The United States was represented at COP28 by John Kerry, Biden's climate envoy, as the president skipped the summit.
Biden, who is seeking reelection next year, has been blasted by experts, frontline communities, and younger voters for refusing to declare a national climate emergency, continuing fossil fuel lease sales for public lands and waters, enabling the Willow oil project and Mountain Valley Pipeline, and supporting the expansion of liquefied natural gas exports.
For his part, former President Donald Trump, the leading contender for the Republican Party's nomination, has vowed to "drill, drill, drill" if he wins back the White House in 2024.
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